


Safehouse

by labama



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Awesome Clint Barton, Awesome Phil Coulson, BAMF Phil Coulson, Clint Barton Feels, Hurt Clint Barton, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Outed as a spy, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Phil Coulson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23486995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/labama/pseuds/labama
Summary: After an op goes sideways, Coulson goes to the only place he can think of for refuge.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson, Phil Coulson & Phil Coulson's Family
Comments: 38
Kudos: 128





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, so this is a fic that I've had partly written for ages but never posted. It's inspired by others who also love this fandom. Tell me what you think!
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> M

The sky was getting dark and the moon shone out through dense layers of cloud. Trees passed by as the cool window pressed against his cheek. Glancing at the clock showed it was 5pm, almost tea time he thought.

“How’s it looking agent” Coulson cut through his inner monologue as he was startled back into reality.

Eyeing the tatters of what once was his shirt, Clint peeled back the jacket Coulson had so kindly lent him to look at the wound. Shit. Not good. The inflamed skin around the hole in his body looked angrier and a steady stream of blood was working its way out, even with the makeshift bandage. The cuts and bruises scattered along the rest of his body weren’t too bad but the bruised ribs where going to make it a bitch to shoot.

“Barton!” Coulson snapped. “Answer me agent”

“Hu, oh, yeah, well, it’s not too bad sir, definitely had worse. I’ll live.” He flashed a grin at his boss.

“Hmmm, very reassuring” Was Coulson’s drawled reply.

“Aww boss, I knew you cared.”

The world outside flew by as Colson powered on. The op had, to put it best, been a shitshow. Coulson had met with the mark, no problem. But when ten badass looking dudes had surrounded him and the mark pulled a gun, Clint had started to worry. The other two backup snipers stationed on opposite buildings had both taken shots to the head and it was by pure reflex that Clint had dropped in time for the bullet to just miss him. After he’d dispatched the rouge sniper and briefly felt a pang for the other two on his team, he set off to aid Coulson.

Turned out Coulson hadn’t needed much help as he’d taken out four of the guys whilst using one as a shield from the bullets. It was quite a sight and Clint had taken advantage of admiring the way Coulson’s body moved before remembering there were still bad guys to neutralise.

He’d taken a knife to the stomach jumping in front of Coulson when the mark had tried to take his boss by surprise from behind. After that he only remembers pain, and Coulson’s voice above him as he sank to the floor. Gun shots rang out as the world blurred in and out.  
A stinging pain across his face had woken him up and blue eyes filled his vision. Coulson had then manhandled him into a car and they’d sped off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coulson POV  
Clint was losing blood, his face was getting paler the further they drove. The op had gone sideways and he’d lost all his supplies, leaving him with no form of communication to call base, they needed to stop somewhere and commandeer a phone.

“Agent, keep talking to me.”

“Hggnnn” was the only reply Clint deemed to give.

A gas station was coming up ahead so he pulled in and flashed his badge to the guy behind the counter. Stating his id number to the operator on the other side of the phone, he requested a medevac to his location. However, due to the fiasco that was a god of thunder dropping in the other week, their resources had been spread thin. It was going to be a five hour wait until a jet could be scrambled. Before he could state that five hours was not good enough and demand a faster evac the line was cut. Growling under his breath, Phil made his way back to the car, thanking the young man for the use of his phone.

Clint had seemingly almost passed out again when Phil opened the door.

“Barton!” Phil snapped. “Talk to me!”

There was no answer.

“Clint!” He tapped the side of Clint’s face, “ Clint! Answer me!” The worry and anguish had seeped into his voice and it was enough for Clint to open an eye.

“Siiir?”

“Barton” Phil sighed, “just hold on, were almost there.”

He racked his brain for any safehouse’s in that area. His mind kept doing circles back to one place. No. There had to be another option, but a glance across at his specialist and his mind was made.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was Eloise Coulson’s birthday, so naturally the whole family was gathered together. Well, the family that bothered to return her calls that was. Eloise Coulson liked to think of herself as a capable woman. Having retired from working as a nurse at the local hospital, not many things can surprise or unsettle her. However, when a black SUV pulled up outside and her son, who she hasn’t seen in over a year, starts banging on her front door she can confirm that she is not so settled.

Standing in the doorway with a strange man draped across his shoulders, Phil barged into the house and deposited the young man onto the couch.

“Phillip?! What…” Eloise attempted to question.

“Mom I need a bowel of water and your med pack from upstairs.”

“Phillip? Son what’s going on?” Andrew Coulson emerged from the dining room, standing in shock at the scene that was before him.

“Mom, dad, please just get the water and med pack and I swear I’ll explain everything after I’ve fixed him up.” Phil replied with a pleading tone.

The entire family had now abandoned dinner and come to see what was happening. Phil could see his brother Brian and his wife Samantha, his sister Izabelle with her husband John and their two children Eliza and Mattie. Looking down at Clint he could see what would make them so alarmed. Blood had soaked through his shirt and was now threatening to run onto the couch.

“Phil what are you doing here? I thought you said you where abroad? And who is that? Why is he bleeding?!” Izzy exclaimed, confusion and fear evident in her voice.

“Brie, I said I’d explain everything later but first I need to stabilize Clint”

“Coulsn? Wher’d yo brng me? Whyss so comfy?” A familiar voice slurred.

“At ease agent, we’re in a safe place, just rest and I’ll get you fixed up” Coulson calmly reassured.

“Yesss sirrr. But no drugs?”

“Don’t worry agent, I know the drill, no drugs.” He reassured his specialist.

Coulson’s mum then came rushing back into the room with the med kit, a bowel of water and a glass of orange juice. Placing them at the base of the sofa she started to peel the shirt away from Clint’s wound. However, Phil stopped her with a hand to her arm.

“No let me do it. If he opens his eyes and sees an unfamiliar face he’ll lash out. Trust me.”

After rousing his agent enough to make him finish the juice, Coulson exposed the first stab wound and dressed it. Having closed it with surgical glue, Phil was pretty sure that it would be fine. He took a deep breath and moved on to cleaning the minor scrapes that littered Clint’s arms and torso.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coming out of her state of shock, Eloise herded the family back out of the room and encouraged the kids to go play outside.

“What is going on?! Should we call 911?” Izzy, her youngest child, screeched.

“No, no Phillip seems to know what he’s doing. Let’s just do what he asked and wait for him to fix that young man up before we interrogate him. I’m not sure what’s going on but it seems that Phil is in some trouble.” Eloise answered as she started the coffee maker. “We’re all going to keep calm and wait for Phillip to explain.”

“Keep calm! Phil just walked into your house, covered in blood, with a stranger in his arms, bleeding out and you want us to keep calm?! What the fuck mom!” Brian shouted.

“You will watch your language when you speak to me young man and yes, we will keep calm as the alternative is to freak out and that will help no one.” She calmly scolded her second child. Having had been trained on how to keep calm in stressful situations she understood that freaking out would only make the situation worse.

That seemed to make her family settle down a bit as they all took seats in the kitchen and sat in silence drinking their coffee and processing what had just happened.

About 20 minutes later Phil entered the kitchen, still covered in blood but some of the tension had drained out of his stance. They stared at him until the tension that had seemingly faded, snapped back with a vengeance. He looked each one of them in the eye before sighing, going to the sink to scrub the blood off his hands and then claiming the only free seat next to his mom and sister.

“I’m sorry, I know this is a bit messed up but I didn’t know where else to go. I promise we’ll be gone in a few hours and you can all forget this ever happened.” He tried to say.

“A bit messed up! You brought a man into moms house who was fucking bleeding out!”

“What the fuck. We don’t see you in a year and you turn up….”

“Gone in a few hours? Now liste…”

“Forget this ever hap…”

Each member of his family was pushing past and shouting over each other to be heard. The volume level rose until he couldn’t hear himself think, let alone what they were saying.

“ENOUGH” Coulson bellowed. He stood from his chair and took charge of the room. “One at a time. I will explain but I need you know that there is more to me and my job than you thought. If I tell you everything, you will all have to sign non-disclosure agreements and will be surveyed for any signs of a breach of these agreements. If you don’t want this then please step out now and go home, tell yourself that I’m an accountant and that my colleague and I got into an accident.”

No one moved. Eloise could see her sons shoulders sag yet again and a grim sort of acceptance settle over him.

“I work for an agency called SHIELD. We are a global law-enforcement organisation that combats extraordinary and inexplicable threats. The man through there lying on the couch is Agent Barton, my colleague and friend. Our op went sideways and this was the closest safehouse I could think of. I’m sorry for dropping this all on you, especially today as I know it’s your birthday mom.”

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that please? I’m having trouble coming to grips with the fact that my eldest son lied to his family about his life.” Andrew stood there in disbelief.

“I work for an organisation called SHIELD. We neutralise extraordinary and inexplicable threats. I know I told you I was an accountant but I didn’t want to drag you all into this. It was best you lived in ignorance.” Phil attempted to placate his family.

“Extraordinary and inexplicable threats? What?” Izzy questioned.

“He means like aliens and mad scientists. That type of shit. Also, Coulson, you told you family you where an accountant? And they believed you? What the fuck?” Came the stronger sounding voice of his specialist stumbling through to the kitchen. He had gained some of the colour back in his cheeks but still didn’t look right.

Phil leaped up from his seat and rushed over to his moronic agent. “What are you doing up? Your supposed to be resting. I’m not sticking you back together when you break yourself.” Phil curled an arm around Clint’s shoulders and helped him into the empty seat. Standing at attention behind the man so that Clint could feel more at ease.

“Boss, you know I never do what I’m told. Also, of course you’ll stick me back together, you always do.” Those blue eyes looked up at him and Phil couldn’t bring himself to object to the comment.

The occupants in the room watched the interaction with interest as Coulson responded. “Yes well, back to the problem at hand. As I said, I work for SHIELD to help protect the world from threat, I run a small team to do this and Barton here is my specialist.”

“Now sir, don’t sell yourself short. You should know that Coulson here is the most badass spy there is. The director himself has described him as his one good eye and I know for a fact that they keep trying to promote him but for some reason he keeps denying it.”

Phil raised an eyebrow and gave Clint a perfectly bland look as he replied. “Yes well, no need to get into the details. I enjoy working with my current team and do not wish for anything more” A sheepish but thankful smile was his only answer.

“Umm ok. So, my brother is a secret spy and he has an insanely hot boyfriend. What the fuck.” The elegant declaration from Izzy cut through the bubble surrounding the two agents.

“What? Barton isn’t my boyfriend. He’s my specialist.” Phil stammered, cheeks just slightly flushed.

“Don’t call Phil gay Izabelle, even I wouldn’t disrespect him like that.” Brian butt in.

“This is not the time for your prejudiced thoughts Brian. We don’t share your messed-up mindset so don’t start preaching.” Izzy snapped back.

“Can we please get back to the topic at hand. I need to know what went so wrong that my son came into my house with his agent slung over his shoulder dripping blood everywhere. Why weren’t you evacuated when it happened? Why where you forced to come here?” Andrew asserted as he stopped the argument before it could progress.

Phil looked down at his agent and started to explain. “We got intel from a trusted source that a local trafficker had information on the location of a terrorist cell in America and was willing to trade it for a price. I was meeting with him to perform the trade but he must have been paid off. Only Clint and I survived. Our organisation is spread too thinly at the moment, the quickest time was a five hour wait. But I needed to fix Barton up in a safe place before he bled out”

“Where you injured!” His moms worried voice registered in his head as Clint’s snapped up, apparently just realising that he wasn’t sure if his boss had taken a hit or not.

“No, just a few cuts and bruises. Nothing that won’t heal by itself.” Phil soothed.

However, it was clear that by now Clint did not believe his handler when it came to injuries and reporting them. Standing up, Barton ran his hands up and down either side of Phil’s torso checking for signs of pain.

“Ok, ok so maybe some bruised ribs but that’s it I swear. Stand down agent. We need to call the base back and update them to our location.” Phil admitted whilst batting the hands away.

On his way to the phone, he caught the raised eyebrow that his sister sent over and let out yet another sigh. It was going to be a long couple of hours.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm not sure how long this is going to be, maybe one more chapter.  
> Thank you for all the kind comments.
> 
> M

Informing HQ that they were safe and not in immediate danger meant that their pick-up was delayed until 9am the next morning. Phil had stood there trying to convince the stubborn operator that no whilst they weren’t in immediate danger, his specialist had been stabbed and needed proper medical attention. Unfortunately, that is when Clint took the phone from his hand, rattled off his id number and then informed the operator that 9am the next morning was fine.

“You can’t threaten the phone operators’ boss, they bite back when you’re least expecting it.” Clint stated as he put the phone down.

“I wouldn’t have to threaten them if they’d do as I ask.” Phil replied as he moved back towards his family who were still gathered in the kitchen.

“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that.” Clint sat in the same chair as before with his handler at his back. “Got to keep you on your toes boss.”

“So, you guys are staying until tomorrow morning then? If so, I’m afraid you’ll be sharing the pull-out couch as the kids have your old room Phil.” Izzy stopped their bantering with a smirk as Brian grimaced.

“That’s no problem right boss? We’ve slept worse places than a sofa bed.” Clint replied, seemingly oblivious to the silent communication between siblings.

“No problem at all specialist.” Phil responded boring holes into his sister.

Just then the timer on the oven went off, signalling that the desert was ready.

“Oh! We never ate dinner!” Eloise cried, turning off the oven as the focus of the room was drawn to the dining table, still piled high with food. “I’ll get the kids in, you lot get settled. Oh, John bring those two spare chairs in from the other room.” She ordered her son-in-law.

As everyone settled around the table, the noise levels rose again and Phil settled back to observe his family. The kids could be heard arguing about which video game to play after dinner whilst his sister was encouraging Clint to tell them some stories. As his agent got into a retelling of an op from last year, he saw the stress lines that where so commonly present had almost disappeared. Clint was feeling at ease here he realised. Not quite sure as to what had caused it, Phil filed that info away for later. Once the plates where emptied and cleared, and desert had been demolished, the kids excused themselves to the office to play their chosen game whilst the adults made their way into the living room.

“Ah yeah, sorry about that Mrs C, I’ll pay for it to get cleaned.” Clint faltered as the couch came into view and the blood stain all over one side glared out against the white cushion.

“Nonsense! We’ve had worse than this on our couches over the years. Don’t you worry my boy, it wasn’t your fault anyway. And call me El! None of this Mrs C, it makes me feel old.” Eloise assured.

Whilst the family took seats around the room, the two agents covered the stain with towels and some blankets and sat down next to each other. It was a squeeze as they tried to avoid sitting on the stain and making it worse.

“Ugh, boss could you unholster your gun. Its digging into my thigh.” Clint complained as he shifted around to get comfortable.

Izzy snorted in laughter from the other side of the room. “Yeah Phil, your gun is digging into his thigh.” Then her face dropped. “Wait you have a gun on you?!”

Phil sighed as he stood up and removed the gun. “Yes Iz, I have a gun. It’s part of the job I’m afraid.” He moved it from his hip to his shoulder holster and sat back down. His family watching every move as they stared at the uncovered gun.

“The people that hurt Clint. They aren’t going to come here right? They didn’t follow you?” Samantha exclaimed as another realisation of what her brother-in-law does hit her.

“No, I made sure to circle back on myself enough times that they’d never find this place.” Phil reassured.

“But did you get what you went for? The information on that terrorist cell?” Andrew questioned.

“I grabbed the marks briefcase before I got in the car. I checked It for any bugs or bombs so don’t worry.” Phil answered as he remembered the only contents being a flash drive.

“Talking of the car, my bow is in there right? You didn’t leave my baby behind did you boss?” Clint look at his handler in dread.

“I got your bow agent, don’t you worry.” Confirmed Phil as he stood up. “I’m actually going to go get both your bow and the briefcase to store inside for now.”

“Yeah probably for the best boss as you know, we don’t actually have any keys for that car” Clint grinned at the shocked look Phil’s family sent at the oldest son.

“You stole a car! Phillip that is not how I raised you!” Eloise’s voice called out but Phil was already out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clint had lit up once he saw his bow and quiver in Phil’s grip and made grabby hands at it. Rolling his eyes affectionately, Phil handed it over and sat down to take a look inside the briefcase. The flash drive sat innocently staring back at him.

“Do you think it was worth it boss? Lance and Jane dying for that?” His agent asked him.

“I hope so specialist.” Was the only reply he could come up with.

“You lost two people today?” John spoke up from where he was sat next to Izzy. “Two people for a memory stick?”

“Taken out by sniper shots to the head.” Clint answered. “Never saw it coming.”

Phil grimly put the briefcase down and tried to encourage a different conversation.

“So how are the kids doing Iz? Has Eliza gotten over her love of planes yet as I was thinking of booking in an experience that will allow for 10-year olds.” Phil encouraged his sister to answer and start a better conversation topic.

Latching onto the lifeline, Izzy smiled. “Yes, she’s still obsessed. I’m sure she’ll love that. Uncle Phil will become the cool one again.”

“Oi! I’m the cool uncle! Phil’s just the uncle!” Brian interjected.

“Well at least Samantha will be the only competition for cool aunt.” Izzy smirked as she glanced at Phil who glared back in reply.

Phil glanced over to Clint sitting next to him and watched as his agents’ eyes fell shut. The day and his injuries finally catching up on him. He felt Clint curl up against his side and automatically wrapped an arm his agents’ shoulders, closing his eyes and providing the comfort they both need.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A loud crash startles Phil awake as he slammed his eyes open and sat at attention. Looking around he realised it has gotten much darker. The clock on the wall read 9:30pm and his family are still around the room quietly talking. His mother smiled apologetically as she picked up a box wrapped in a bow from the floor. Oh course. It’s his mom’s birthday today. He was supposed to call once the mission was over and send apologies that he couldn’t make it. At his side, Clint who had also woken from the noise stiffened and surveyed the room in search of a threat.

“At ease agent.” Phil murmured in Clint’s ear. “We’re at my parents place, you got stabbed but I fixed you up.”

Recognition flooded into his agents’ eyes as he remembered what happened. Clint flopped back down against his handlers’ side and relaxed. Phil caught the small smile from his mother out the corner of his eye and his sister let off another smirk.

“Oh, wasn’t it your birthday Eloise? Happy birthday! And sorry for crashing your party like this.” Clint apologized as he rested his head on Phil’s shoulder.

“I’m glad that we got to meet you Clint. Even if the circumstances could have been better.” Eloise replied, a loving smile sent his way.

“Now that I think about it, you must be the co-worker that Phil complains about from time to time. You’re the guy who’s always winding Phil up.” Andrew catches the wide eyes of his son as he presents an amused smile.

“You told your family about me. Aww boss, I’d be flattered if I wasn’t about to argue the point about me ‘always winding you up’.” Those blue eyes stared up at him from the shoulder they were rested on and from this angle Phil was able to see all the little details of Clint’s face. The slight scar that curled around his eyebrow, created on an op two years ago where an explosion caused the both of them to go flying. A little dimple in his cheek from where Clint’s relaxed face was pressed against him. The beautiful flecks of brown and green merging in with the dominating blue of his eyes. By this point Phil realized he’d been staring at Clint’s face for too long and hadn’t answered his agent. Moving his gaze away, he was met with the eyes of his mother and sister, both of whom raised eyebrows at him.

Normally Phil had better control than this. Normally he wouldn’t get lost staring into the face of his… specialist. “Yes, well, I needed to make the story believable and every workplace has that one person that annoys you.”

“So, you chose me to be that person. Even though there are pleeenty of little shits that call themselves recruits all competing for that title.” Clint drawled back in answer. “Did you see that one the other day that walked around all cocky and thought he could beat me on the range. Should have strung him up by the ears and used him for target practice.”

“Yes, and then I’d have legal on my ass about human rights and how I can’t control my subordinates. Anyway, I already took care of that problem. Next time Finley will think better than to brag about how he can beat Hawkeye when he remembers the punishment for being overconfident.” Phil assures his agent.

“How are you guys not together? Its like watching an action romcom.” John exclaimed as he and Izzy unabashedly stared at the exchange.

“Right well, I think I could do with some coffee… or a scotch. Barton come help me.” Phil escapes the conversation and drags his injured agent after him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the kitchen, Phil deposits Clint into a chair and makes himself busy. Getting out a saucepan, he starts making hot chocolate. His moms favourite.

“So, boss, why do they keep thinking we’re together? What have you told them about me?” Clint laughs as he questioned his handler. Barton’s heart started to pump a bit faster when Phil turned around and pierced him with those green eyes.

“I’m not sure. I have no idea to why they keep thinking we’re together.”

Clint had pushed his feelings for his boss to the back of his mind. Years had gone by and Clint had never acted on any of his desires. Natasha had teased him at first before she realised just how deep he felt about their handler. Now she just gives him a look whenever she catches him staring at their boss. Just like him, she needs Coulson. He’s the best handler they’ve had. He makes sure their comfortable before beginning any op. That they also believe the mark is a threat to the population before accepting the mission. Coulson always puts them first and Clint just falls deeper every day. It was their first meeting that started the stirring in his gut and the fluttering of his heart. He was on the run from SHIELD and had made a fatal mistake. Surrounded on a rooftop with no escape, Clint had turned and faced the guy in charge. Coulson was younger back then, less stress lines adorned his face and he had more hair but his flawless, beautiful body hugged by a Tom Ford suit had not changed. Clint had pulled his last knife and squared off with the agent. Raising a perfect eyebrow Phil had done the same. It was an embarrassingly short fight. Clint was tired but Phil had disarmed him and sat straddled over his torso in a matter of minutes. “Most guys buy me dinner before they ride me.” Clint smirked, he was exhausted and ready to just drop, but the beautiful man above had woken up a small part of him.

They’d interrogated him and then recruited him. But after going through almost all the handlers employed by SHIELD in the first year, Clint had expected to be either thrown into a dark cell or terminated. However, when the gorgeous man who pinned him to the ground had entered the office he was sat in and sat down opposite, Clint faltered. Phil had offered to be his handler and to ensure that Clint was treated fairly. From there on out, Clint had tried to keep it professional but he couldn’t help the sometimes longing looks he sent towards his boss. When Phil had angrily informed Clint that of course he could use his bow and that he should use whatever weapon he felt most safe with, the feeling in his chest only got stronger. They had a rough patch when he was sent to terminate the Black Widow but instead went radio silent and returned three days later, her on his arm. Phil had angrily informed him that if he ever went radio silent again he’d track him down and shoot him in the leg. Now they formed a three man strike team. Only occasionally being used for the mundane missions like the one they had just returned from. It was thought that Natasha had not been needed for this op and so she’d had time off until they returned. A load of shit that turned out to be.

Coming back into the present, Clint gazed at his handler. Those green eyes where still on him and he realised that they’d just been staring at each other for at least 5 minuets.

“Don’t you?” Clint was not unobservant. He saw almost everything. The small looks and glances that he felt over the years as well as all the soft reassuring comments when an op had gone wrong or when they’d shared a bed and woke up cuddled together both red cheeked and slightly aroused. “I think you do. I think I do as well.” This was it he realised, this was the moment that Natasha had pestered him about when they argued about keeping his secret.

Phil’s eyes met his dead on and the space between them started closing. He could feel the heat radiating from his handlers’ body. See the specs of amber and blue in his green eyes. Neither of them moved any closer, stood almost touching and breathing the same air.

“Clint.” Came the deep husky voice of Coulson as he voiced Barton’s first name for the first time in years. Clint let the voice wash over him. Drowning him in heat.

Suddenly the room was flooded in brightness. The atmosphere between the agents disintegrated as they immediately stood at attention. Slowly, they made their way to the window and looked out to see a jet landing on the lawn. A figure dressed in black tactical gear with two duffle bags stepped out and made their way to the back door. 

“Phillip? What’s going on? Who’s that out there?” Came his mother’s voice as the family moved from the living room to the kitchen.

Before he could answer, the door swung open and the Black Widow entered the room kitted out in full gear.

“Coulson, your location has been compromised. We need to get your family to safety.” Natasha spoke as she deposited the bags at his feet and moved to secure the door. “Why did you plug in that USB, you know better than that.”

“What? I didn’t plug it in. It’s still in the briefcase.” Phil replied bewildered but on guard. He looked towards the lounge where his family had gathered in a circle watching the scene and saw that the briefcase had been moved and opened. “Who did that? Who opened the case?”

The eyes of his family all pointed at Brian as he spluttered and started arguing that Phil shouldn’t have left it out if he didn’t want people snooping.

“No Brian, I assumed that you had a single brain cell and wouldn’t plug in the potentially dangerous device I stole from a trafficker.” Phil snapped. “What were you thinking. You’ve just put us all in danger and now we’re going to have to leave. Izzy grab the kids and everyone pack your bags. We’re wheels up in 10.”

Glancing down at the duffle bags by his feet Coulson reached to open them as his family stood in shock around him. He found four handguns and three assault rifles. The other held body armour for himself and Clint. Seeing that his family we’re still stood around them gawking at the guns Phil snapped back up. “Didn’t you just hear me. Thanks to Brian you are now all in danger and we need to get you back to HQ until this all blows over. Pack your bags you only have 5 minuets now.”

“Phillip we cannot leave. This is our house. What are you talking about. Why are we in danger?” Eloise questioned her son.

“That USB that Brian so cleverly decided to snoop at had security protocols-built in. It’s let the owners of that device know where we are. That is why we don’t look at the information until it can be analysed by SHIELD techs. Now we’re going to take you to safety but please just go pack a bag.” Phil asked as the family registered the danger and rushed off.

“How did you get here so fast Nat?” Clint questioned to his left.

“I was notified as soon as you sent that first distress call. I may have borrowed a jet and gotten down here as fast as possible. Good job I did though as I got the call half an hour ago that you were broadcasting your location to the world.” Natasha replied whilst using a knife to clean the imaginary dirt from under her nails.

“Oh god, more paperwork.” Phil muttered as he strapped his vest on, holstered more guns and pocketed the USB drive from family computer. 

“Ha that’s why you’re my favourite Nat.” Clint snorted as he too geared himself up, bow at the ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once everyone was downstairs again and ready to go, more lights filled the house. But this time the sound of cars pulling up and guns clicking made all three agents tense.

“Romanoff, get my family to the jet. Barton and I will hold them off.” Phil ordered as he moved the table in front of the entrance way to the hall.

“No! Phil! What are you doing!” Eloise cried as she was herded out the back door and into the jet. 

Barton and Coulson started moving back slowly towards the door as they heard the engines start on the quinjet. The front door was broken down and hostiles marched in, bullets sprayed through the house. Making their way towards the ramp of the jet, they shot back and covered the escape.

“Coulson! Time to go!” Came the voice of Romanoff from the cockpit.

He and Barton retreated up the ramp and the door closed. However, just as it was about to seal, Coulson saw a man aiming for Clint.

“NO!” he screamed as he tackled his agent to the ground. Pain exploded from his back but the sound of Clint breathing below him made him relax. They felt the jet take off as the echoing of bullets ricocheting off the hull became deafening.

Looking down Coulson was met with the blue eyes of his agent looking back at him. The energy from earlier flooded back in as Clint reached up and smashed his lip against Coulson’s. The world seemed to evaporate as the feeling and taste of Clint engulfed him. Closing his eyes, he kissed back and he felt as if he was floating on air. Everything was good with the world and he felt at peace. Breaking apart they stared at each other and a smile broke out between them. As they slowly came back to reality, the pain from earlier hit him.

“Yeah, right, so not a couple.” Izzy drawled as she laughed down at them. 

“Phil what the fuck? You’re gay now? What the fuck?” Brian yelled as his lips pulled back in disgust.

“Ummmm, yeah.” Phil held eye contact with Clint as he replied. Moving to get up and into a normal seat he winced when it jarred his back.

“Hey, what’s wrong. Did you get hit?” Clint had been watching Phil and saw the flash of pain.

“No, it hit my vest I think.” Coulson turned around as Clint reached up and pulled the bullet out of his vest. “Yeah, that’s going leave a nice bruise.” 

“Phillip! You were shot?!” his mother’s voice could be heard panicking from where she was strapped in.

“Don’t worry mom, it hit my vest. I’m fine.” Her son reassured her.

“That’s not the point Philip! You were shot!” She cried back.

“It’s a part of the job I’m afraid Mrs C.” Clint answered for him as they made their way to the front of the jet. “How it looking Nat?”

“ETA 3 hours, get settled and don’t annoy me.” She replied.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it had been a while. I've been writing and re-writing this over and over again.  
> Anyways, here it is, hope you like it!
> 
> M

Having settled down into two available seats, Coulson felt Clint take his hand and run his fingers over the bruised knuckles. “So, I just kissed you. And you kissed me back. Does this mean… do you… maybe want to start something together?” His agent dropped his head and mumbled out the last part.

However, before Phil could confirm that yes, he most definitely did want a relationship, Brian opened his mouth. 

“So gayboy, where are you taking us?”

“Brian! You will not speak to him like that! I understand this is a shock to everyone but that is no excuse to act like a dick!” Eloise cried in outrage at her son.

“Mom! Did you just call me…” Brian was interrupted by a loud bang from the belly of the plane that slightly rocked the passengers onboard.

“Agent! Report!” Coulson’s calm voice settled the panic that was building as he made his way into the cockpit.

“It seems a missile of some kind has hit us. Minimal damage but it looks like something has been left behind.” Romanoff replied as she pointed to the rear display camera showing a small black object piercing the metal.

“It could be a tracing beacon sir, or a timed-bomb.” Clint suggested as he inspected the floor, checking for damage.

“No if it were a bomb it would of most likely detonated when it hit us. You could be right about the tracing beacon though. We need to land and remove whatever it is.” Coulson decided as he joined Clint in the cargo hold. “Set her down in the nearest unoccupied field. We can’t be sure how far away they are so we need to make this quick.”

“Land?! Why are we landing?! We’re supposed to be going somewhere safe! Landing in a random field with bad guys chasing us doesn’t seem safe!” Samantha screeched as she got more wound up. “You’re supposed to be protecting us Phil!”

“Samantha! Calm down! You’re scaring the kids!” Izzy scolded as she reassured her children that everything was fine. “Phil seems pretty competent at what he does. I wouldn’t question his judgement. Besides, wasn’t it Brian, your husband, that got us into this mess in the first place?”

“Enough! We’re coming into land and you lot need to be quiet.” Phil interrupted the argument before it could get out of hand. “Barton, with me. Romanoff watch for hostiles.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Removing the device from where it was embedded in the armoured plating of the quinjet was a more difficult task that anticipated. It was made of what looked to be the same material as armour piercing bullets. After taking photos, Phil rolled it away and headed back inside.

His family had moved around so that Izzy and Eloise where bracketing Eliza on one side and John and Andrew where surrounding Mattie on the other. Brian and Samantha had been slightly excluded as they sat at the end next to Andrew and did not look happy about the new arrangements.

“So, the good news is that we got it off but the bad news is that we need to patch up the hole. It exposed a fuel line from the wing and if that gets damaged, we won’t get back.” Coulson announced as he pulled up some screens to determine the best type of repair he could do.

“Duct tape should do, right boss?” Clint winked as he grabbed the repair box and went back out.

“Apart from the obvious is everyone alright?” Phil questioned as he looked over his family. They all seemed to be fine, no cuts or bruises, no grimaces or favouring of one side.

“We’re alright Phillip, what about you? You got shot not 20 minutes ago if you remember!” his mom retorted as she stood up and came to pat him down.

“Ah no mom! What are you doing!?” Phil cried as he felt her undoing his vest and pulling it over his head as if he were a small child again and she was undressing him.

“You were shot Phillip. I am checking your back! Now hold still or I’ll pin you down.”

“No. Mom. I’m fine, I don’t need to be checked out.” Coulson feebly attempted to protest but one look from his mother and he backed down.

She pulled his top up and let out a harsh gasp. Scars crisscrossed his back in lines. “Phil… What happened? What?” She tried to form words, but nothing came out. Her mind was racing through the possible causes of the scars. They were not from an accident, she knew that much.

Dread filled his stomach as Phil remembered the scars that littered his torso. ‘Shit’ he thought, why was it the one time he didn’t think about the gruesome markings on his body was the one time his family saw him without a top on. Looking round he registered the horrified faces of his mother, father, sister and brother-in-law. The kids had been distracted by the computer tablets thank god, but he saw Brian and Samantha’s face screw up in disgust.

“Not all missions are a success.” Was the only reply he could think to give. How do you tell your family that you’d been tortured in defence of their country.

Thankfully, Natasha registered the tense silence that filled the jet and the stiff shoulders of her boss and decided to change the subject.

“Barton is 5 mins out. He’s just adding finishing touches.” She got a grateful tilt of the head from Coulson and the angry eyes of Eloise Coulson for her trouble.

“Don’t think you can get out of this conversation Phillip. I want to know why my son got such painful looking scars.” Eloise compromised as she took her seat again and strapped in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Boss we have hostiles incoming. I saw a black SUV that looks a few minutes out.” Clint shouted as he ran back in and closed the ramp. “It’s only one vehicle so I reckon we could take them.”

“No, my family are here, and I won’t have them potentially caught in the crossfire.” Coulson denied as he suited back up. “Barton, get us engines up. Romanoff, I need you here in case they get in. Sorry agent but your better at evasive flying.” He commented as he saw the disappointed look from Clint when he realised he wouldn’t be in the action. Nat sent a smug look to Clint as he grumbled and moved to the cockpit.

However, by the time their engines had started up, Coulson could see the black car outside as it pulled up. Five men got out and surrounded the hangar door to the quinjet.

“They can’t get in so what are they doing?” Nat wondered as she stood at the ready with her pistol out, watching the enemies on a screen.

It was then that the hangar door started to open and the sounds of the quinjet’s engines diminished.

“Barton! What is happening, I told you to take off!” Phil shouted as he started to see sky from outside.

“I don’t know sir! It looks like they have control of the electronics! It must have been that device. I need to override their control and switch to manual. Give me 5 minutes.” Clint replied as he scrambled over to the control panel.

“Phil! What’s happening?!” Came the worried voices of his family.

“Don’t worry, just stay back and keep the kids behind you.” Phil looked over at Natasha and gave her a nod. Signalling for them to stand either side of the ramp and be ready to attack. ‘No guns’ he motioned, a shootout would increase the risk of his family getting shot and he couldn’t let that happen.

“I can help Phil, I can fight. Used to beat you up all the time. I’ll take the first two and you two can take the other two.” Brian made himself known again as he made his way to the back of the jet.

“No Brian, you’re the last line of defence for the kids. Just stay back and let us handle this. I don’t need you getting in the way.” Phil replied as Andrew pulled Brian back to where the family was huddled.

The door opened fully and 4 of the 5 hostiles ran in, pointing their guns at Phil’s family but not seeing the two agents behind them.

As Natasha disarmed the one closest to her, Phil went for the two closest to him, snatching a gun from one, he used it to smack the other across the head who landed with a thud on the floor and did not move.

Looking back to the now disarmed crook, Phil asked him. At least 6ft and just as muscly and Captain America. ‘This is going to be fun’ was the first thing that popped into his head and he advanced.

Meanwhile Natasha had knocked one guy out cold and the other was currently attempting to stab her with a knife. Running at him, she wrapped her legs around his throat and slammed him to the ground. Seeing that he was not getting up anytime soon she glanced over at Coulson to see if he needed help. It became evident that even though the guy was almost twice the size as Phil, he had it handled.

“Are you ok? No injuries?” Natasha called to Phil’s family, still watching the fight and looking for an opening.

“We’re fine! Just help Phil!” Was the response from Andrew.

Out the corner of his eye Phil caught Nat sending him a signal. It was through the countless years working together that he understood and sent confirmation back. Manipulating the fight to make sure the guy had his back to Nat, Phil let a punch though his defence and pretended to flinch back. As he looked up and saw the guys face turn from a smirk to one of shock, he stood back up straight and punched him across the face to finish the job.

Natasha walked over to retrieve her widow bites from the mans back and they both moved to the door to clear out the last guy.

But as they stepped outside, they could make out the shape of a car speeding off towards the road. Both agents took out their guns to shoot at the fast retreating vehicle, but it was just too far away.

“Sir we’re ready to move out. I’ve got control of our systems back.” Barton’s voice echoed out through the door.

“Wheels up then agent, let’s get back.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Natasha and Coulson tied up the unconscious criminals and propped them against the side of the jet, then made their way up to the cockpit.

Coulson’s family slowly moved back into their seats but left a wide birth around the tied-up goons.

“Ha, not so tough now are you!” Brian walked over to the first one Phil had taken out and kicked him in the shin. Slapping his cheeks and bending right down to look at his face, Brian attempted to wake the guy up. Pulling out a pocketknife from his trousers, Brian flipped open the knife and waved it in front of the man.

“Brain! I swear to god, I will throw you out this plane if you do not sit your ass down and behave!” Phil bellowed at his brother as he saw the bad guy twitch.

“Chill out Philly, he’s out of it. I’m just have a bit of fun. Not that you know what that is. Also, I saw your pathetic excuse at fighting. You had to have a girl save you!” Natasha looked up as she heard Brian.

“So, Coulson, are you going to introduce me to your dick of a brother?” She drawled in Russian cleaning the dirt from under her fingernail with a knife.

“No… I don’t think I will agent.” He suspiciously replied, also in Russian.

“You speak Russian?!” Came Izzy’s shocked voice.

“Yeah, Nat taught us as she’s an ex Russian spy and all.” Clint interrupted as he pointedly looked at Brian. As much as he would like Nat to maim Phil’s brother, Brian was family to Phil.

Phil saw the guy that Brian had been provoking twitch once more and called for his brother to move away from the criminal. He was ignored again and before Coulson could move over and neutralise the threat again, Brian’s legs where swept out from under him and the pocketknife that he had been waving around was grabbed out of his hands.

“Oh, for fucks sake.” Nat muttered as they both moved to fight.

Brian was now being held with a knife to his neck as the con had cut through the zip ties and swung round to hold Brian hostage.

“You change the coordinates to 33.812511, -117.918976 or I will slit his throat.” The man ordered.

“Do as he says Phil! He’s going to kill me!” Brian yelled as he panicked.

“Ok, ok, don’t do anything rash. We are changing the coordinates now. Right Barton?” Phil placated as he held his hands up and crept forwards slightly.

Glancing at Nat he nodded, and she turned the lights of the main hangar off as they were plunged into darkness.

Running towards the thug, Phil yanked the arm holding the knife away from Brian’s throat and dislocated it. The con dropped the knife in surprise and staggered away in pain. The lights came back on as Phil rushed the guy and swung him round, slamming him to the ground and giving a quick jab to the throat. As the criminal gasped for breath, Phil secured him again and stood up from the floor. Turning to check on his brother, he came face to face with Samantha as she started shouting in his face.

“What the fuck was that! He could have been killed! You bastard!” As the abuse was being thrown his way, Phil just held up a hand and walked around her to the cockpit.

“I’m too tired and sore to be dealing with this right now.” He replied and shut his family out.

“He just saved Brian’s life! And all our lives you ungrateful bitch! I think we can all agree that Phil knows what he’s doing so I’d shut up if I where you.” Izzy defended her brother and was sent an amused look from Natasha.

“Hi, I’m Natasha. I think we’re going to get along very well.” Nat introduced herself to Izzy and guided her back to her family, leaving Samantha to fuss over Brian.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Phil made his way into the co-pilots seat in the cockpit and waved a greeting to Clint.

“You alright boss?” Barton asked.

“Just fine Clint, I don’t want to talk about them. You asked me if I would like to start something earlier and the answer is yes. 100% yes. I have wanted this for years Clint, it’s just I’ve been too afraid to mess up our friendship. But I am your handler. I can’t put you in that position. You have had a hard life of people treating you like shit and I refuse to be one of them. When we get back to base, I will discuss the options with Fury, see what he can do so that we can be together but still work together. Does that sound like something you’d want?” Phil looked over at Clint and became saw at the emotions showing on his face. His heart started beating faster as they continued to stare into one another’s eyes.

“Yes. Phil, of course I want that. I’ll come with you when you go to see Fury. We’ll face the old pirate together.” Clint’s face was hurting from how hard he was grinning. Happy didn’t even cover the emotion he was feeling right now. He was on top of the world, nothing could stop him. “When we land, I’m going to kiss you. I would do it now but I’m kind of flying a plane.”

“Then I will wait, wouldn’t want yet another thing to go wrong now would we?” Phil’s grin matched his as a small blush covered his cheeks.

“Eugh, would you stop with the homo shit. We get your one of them now Phil, but you don’t need to shove it in our face.” Brian, as usual, killed the moment.

“Permission to neutralise the threat Coulson?” Nat asked in her home language.

“Granted!” Clint answered before Phil could.

The sound of a fist hitting a cheek reached the cockpit and yet another round of screeching started.

“Are you sure about this? It does mean seeing my family at least once a year.” Phil asked his now partner.

“I would and have been through hell for you sir, I think I can handle your family.” Clint replied as he reached over to cover Phil’s hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking one more chapter to just finish it off. Either that or the plot buddies will steal it away and we'll get swept away into a few more chapters.
> 
> M


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, so I cut this chapter in half as I'm still writing/editing the next part but didn't want to leave it too long without posting.  
> Thank you to michellelove1 for the prompt! Hope you like it :)
> 
> M

Landing at base, Phil marched out and ushered his family through the main hangar, attempting to keep a low profile. However, when you are constantly described as Fury’s ‘right-hand man’, that is not so easy.

“Hey Coulson!” Called a voice from across the room.

Looking around, Coulson spotted what looked to be Maria Hill rushing towards him.

“Where the hell have you been?!” She yelled at him. “It’s been hours since anyone heard from you. I have Fury on my tail about rouge mutated rats and a bomb threat aboard a flight heading to JFK.”

It was just then that she noticed the small mob of civilians surrounding Phil. She raised an eyebrow in question but only received a ‘later’ hand gesture in return. Turning to his family, he noticed the awed stares as they took in what was around them. He supposed the mix of ground assault vehicles and fighter jets that filled the room would cause that reaction for most people.

“Hey Hill, I need a favour.” He asked as she gave him a long-suffering sigh. “Escort my family to a safe place please. Give them somewhere they can lie down but keep them together.” The agent nods and starts guiding his family out.

“I’ll find you in a few. Just need to catch up with my boss.” Phil responds to the look his mother sends him as she hesitates to follow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coulson dismisses Nat to check on and stay with his family, then signals for Clint to follow him as he heads in the direction of Fury’s office.

Finding a relatively quiet elevator, Phil and Clint step in and wait for the technician on the opposite side to get to her floor. An awkward silence fills the atmosphere, but Phil feels the eyes of his agent burning through him, causing goosebumps to prickle out and his heart to beat faster. 

As the woman steps out and the doors once again close, Phil is suddenly pinned against the wall of the elevator and the green eyes of his specialist fill his vision. All the moisture from his mouth has disappeared and it is hard to swallow. He feels his heart skip a few beats, as if it is also having trouble performing a basic function.

“I think I owe you a kiss sir.” Clint’s voice is deep and husky, settling low in Coulson’s gut when he registers it.

“Specialist, as much as I agree with that statement, I don’t think now is the time.” Phil tries to protest, he really does, but one more look at those eyes piercing into him and the mouth inching closer to his, the protest fails.

It’s hot and not at all chaste like back on the jet. Tongue meets tongue as Clint dominates Phil’s mouth. Plundering his way inside and stealing any sense time or urgency. Clint has one hand flat against the wall by Phil’s head and the other curled around his waist. Fingers inching under his shirt and body armour. The same armour that stops Phil from feeling the hard lines of muscle that are hidden under Clint’s own protective gear. Coulson feels his head going fuzzy as the blood rushing through his veins all starts to head south. He barely even remembers where he is until the sound of doors opening and a throat clearing cuts through his hazed mind.

“Gentlemen. I heard you were coming to see me. Although I have to say… it’s about damn time cheese!” Fury’s voice was an unpleasant interruption and succeeded in reducing the arousal both Coulson and Barton felt.

“Ah, sir, yes, we were, well… we need some FSO-39 forms.” The uncharacteristic stuttering from Coulson made the situation hit home for Clint. If Fury didn’t allow them to work together whilst being together, then that would be the end of their strike team. He would have to report to a new handler. One who may not listen to him or allow him to use his weapon of choice. All the things that he took for granted, serving under Coulson were now at risk.

Unfortunately, him getting lost in his head meant that he had missed most of the conversation around him. Seeing that they were making their way towards the director’s office, Clint ran to catch up.

After 30 minutes of boring legal talk, Fury, Coulson and Barton had come to a resolution. Fury himself would act as a buffer between the two, with Hill having the power of oversight. If Clint or Coulson ever felt threatened or pressured into anything (work or otherwise) then they would report to Fury and the matter would be settled.

Agreeing to set up a meeting later that night in order to debrief what had happened on the mission, the two set off to find Phil’s family. However, as they were heading down a hallway, Clint suddenly grabbed Coulson and dragged him into the store cupboard conveniently placed just behind him.

“I say we have about 10 minutes until we’re expected back. You know how long debriefings take. How about we make the most of our spare time?” The dangerous glint in Barton’s eyes and the slight upturn of his mouth was all the encouragement Phil needed and he dove in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Nat follows Hill and Phil’s family down to the barracks that house the recruits, she raises a questioning eyebrow at Maria.

“There isn’t really anywhere else that has enough beds. They can be kept together here. Most of the recruit’s won’t mind sleeping on the floor anyway. It’ll be good character building.” Hill’s answer brings a small smile to Nat’s lips and she nods her head, taking in the dull walls and prison like bunks of the room, character building indeed.

“Ok you lot.” Nat surveys Phil’s family whilst Hill gives them the rundown of the rules and a verbal tour. “This is where you’ll be sleeping tonight, just until Special Agent Coulson can find an alternate shelter. Please do not bother the recruits, they have a job to do and I will not have any of them distracted and fail. You can take the group of beds in the corner and I will inform the occupants of those beds that they will be sleeping elsewhere tonight. There is a small kitchen in the room across the hall, door next to that is the bathrooms and the mess is right in the middle of the compound. Agent Romanoff will stay with you until Coulson gets back.” With one last nod to Natasha, she left the room.

Watching the family get settled into the borrowed beds, Natasha heads to the kitchen to grab a drink. However, as she is pouring coffee into her mug, the thunderous noise of 50 recruits on their way back from a day’s training obliterates any calm that she may have felt.

They barge into the barracks and stumble to a halt at the sight of 8 civilians taking over their space.

“Oi! Who are you! Get off that bed its Pete’s!” Natasha sighs to herself as the outraged voices of the not yet agents echo through to the kitchen.

Pushing her way out and through the sea of people, she stands in front of Phil’s family to address the young trainees.

“Ok! You all know who I am so I will be brief. These people are here because Agent Coulson said so and if you don’t like it feel free to take that up with him. In the meantime, the 8 of you who sleep in the occupied beds, make your way to Hill’s office and she will find you an alternate place to stay tonight. To the rest of you, do not bother me.”

Whispers of ‘Coulson! Why’s he bringing civis in!’ and ‘Coulson has a family?!’ suddenly filled the air and Natasha rolled her eyes at the speculating. However, one comment struck a nerve. Quick as a flash, Nat was across the room and had the recruit pinned by the throat to the wall.

“Oh I know you. You’re that recruit that thought he could take on Barton. Finley was it? I thought you would know better than to antagonise me.” She bared her teeth at him. “Would you like to repeat that last comment?”

“N… No… No sir.” He stuttered out a reply.

The arm across his throat pushed harder and he gulped for more breathes. Her eyes narrowed. “Are you sure recruit?” 

“No sir, it was nothing. Just me being stupid. I’m sorry sir. It won’t happen again.” He apologised.

“Hmm, well then, if that’s the case, I’m sure you’re right. It won’t ever happen again.”

“No sir.” At the final confirmation, she released him.

“As you were recruits.” She turned from them and was faced with the worried gazes of Phil’s family.

“Don’t worry about those lot. They’re harmless.” She comforted and made her way back into the kitchen to collect her forgotten coffee.

Unfortunately, the world was clearly against her today though as just before she could take a sip, the sounds of shouting could be heard from the barracks. Letting out a frustrated sigh she tipped the lukewarm coffee down the drain and went to see what was wrong.

Further inspection revealed that Brian was stood surrounded by about 10 trainees, all who looked very pissed.

“What the fuck is happening!” Her shout seemed to still the room. “One of you explain what is happening right now or I swear…” She trailed off menacingly.

“It was the civi sir. He was disrespecting Agent Coulson.” A brave voice called out.

“Ah, thank you recruit.” Locking eyes with Brian she smiled, all teeth and no warmth. “I thought we had gotten over this Brian. You should know better than to disrespect one of the most famed agents in this organisation, especially to a bunch of recruits who idolise him.”

“Oh please. You expect me to believe that Philly is some badass secret agent. He can barely hold his own in a fight! He needed you, a girl, to save him last time!” Brian was digging himself a deeper hole. “I mean I bet I could take him easily.”

“Um Brian, I distinctly remember her kicking your ass on the jet so I would stop talking.” The wise words of his sister did nothing to sway him.

“I wasn’t ready on the jet! She took me by surprise!” He defended himself.

“Well then Brian, why don’t we have a rematch? I’m sure that it’s a fair fight now that you expect one.” Natasha drawls as the exited chatter of the recruits behind her builds.

Beds are pushed out the way as the floor in the middle of the massive room is cleared enough to spar.

Brian seems to be jumping up and down, shaking out his hands and pretending to punch things. On the other side, Natasha is just stood facing him, adjusting her widow bites.

“You start when the case drops. You have 10 seconds to get back up if down.” The recruit who had spoken up earlier seemed to have stolen a pillowcase to mark the start of the fight.

The second it hits the floor; Natasha is on Brian. Legs wrapped around his neck as she drags him to the floor and punches him in the face. Standing up she listens to the recruits as they count to 10. Cheers go round when all he does is roll over and groan.

“Maybe remember this the next time you think of disrespecting Coulson.” Nat informs him and turns away.

However, before she can walk away, she feels a sharp slap to her butt cheek and a muttered ‘bitch’. Spinning round she fires a widow bite into his crotch and lets the electricity run its course. Once he has stopped seizing, he curls up into a fetal position. Not accepting that, Nat once again pins him to the ground and in a dangerously low voice threatens. “If you ever do anything like that again I will chop off you dick and feed it to you whilst I peel the skin off your balls. Do you understand?”

He lets out a small whine of confirmation and tries to curl back into himself. Sneering in disgust she pushes off from him and walks out the room.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry about the wait. I've had trouble writing this.
> 
> Thank you to Stray717 for the prompt!
> 
> Hope you like it :)
> 
> M

Phil and Clint had just finished making themselves presentable when a loud banging started on the door to the supply closet.

“Oi! Stop sucking face and get your asses out here before I kill members of Coulson’s family!” The dulcet tones of an angry Natasha rattled through the room.

“How did she even find us?” Barton’s bewildered question was cut off by another deafening knock.

“I’m ashamed you asked that Clint now get out here.” They opened the door to be greeted with a blank faced Nat. “Weren’t you stabbed not too long ago?” She addresses Clint before switching to Phil. “Your family have had to be moved to another room Coulson, there was a minor altercation.” 

“I’m fine” Barton waved her off. “I got a medic to check me over when we landed. New dressing and no ops until it’s healed.”

“A minor altercation?” Coulson drawled. “Did that involve my idiotic brother by any chance?”

The three agents fell into step as Natasha explained a trimmed down version of what had happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As he enters the conference room that had been given to his family, now away from any future agents, he zeros in on Brian.

“What the hell is going through your head?! My agent has just told me you started a fight with her. Also, that you goaded the recruits into an argument about me?! What the fuck Brian?! Your life is in danger and you start picking fights with those who are protecting you?!” Phil then glanced down at the device in Brian’s lap and his face pales. “Tell me that’s not the home laptop.” Coulson almost whispers, grabbing the machine from Brian, he sees that it is indeed his parent’s computer. “Why have you got this?!” Reaching to activate his com, he orders two agents to come and drop it off to tech.

“It’s expensive man! I bought it for them last year! Spent way too much for it to just be stollen from an empty house!” Brian defends himself.

“Well done Brian, always thinking of yourself.” Coulson angrily sighs. “That was the device you plugged my USB into, which means the virus would have infected it. And as you just connected it to the WIFI here, they now know where we are. Hopefully, they won’t be stupid enough to try to attack a base full of operatives.”

Handing the device off to an agent, Phil turns to the rest of his family.

“I need you all to stay in this room. Do not leave unless either Barton, Natasha or I come and get you.” Looking at Izzy, Phil gestures to the door behind her.” That is a small room with some comfier chairs and probably a tablet or two. Its not big enough for all of you but it will be fine if you settle yourself and the kids in there and lock the door. To not open it for anyone but family.”

He hands a small device to his mom and tells her to press the button if they find themselves in danger. With that he tints the glass walls of the room and follows his agents out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the infected computer handed over to IT, they make their way to the main control room. It is full of senior agents, all standing round a massive desk while technicians run about to perform various jobs on the screens that line the walls. Fury stands at the head of it all, looking to be reading from a tablet in front of him. He looks up when they enter and a slight frown forms.

“Ah, Coulson, care to tell me why I just got a notice from tech about a potential attack? Something about an infected computer you gave them?” Fury keeps his voice level with no emotion whatsoever showing on his face.

“My brother, he mistakenly brought in a computer that had been infiltrated by that USB. Apologies sir, I take full responsibility.” Phil held eye contact whilst taking the blame, standing straight and untimid.

“What! No sir! If anyone should take the blame it should be Brian Coulson! He has just been one problem after another during this mission.” Clint defends his handler with the passion of a protective lover.

“At ease agents. No ones in trouble Although you should have known better and done a check of their belongings.” Fury chides them.

Just then an operative comes rushing in. Standing at attention he addresses the director. “Sir! We have gained entry into the USB brought in by Agent Coulson. It contains nothing but dummy files. Designed to cause damage to whatever they infect. There is also a coded tracker. It seems the planned meet between Coulson and the mark was not the betrayal from an insider like we thought it was but a ruse to wipe out any threats against Bates Stoker.”

“Stoker?! I thought he was dead! You told me this was a simple switch and go op sir! Nothing about Bates fucking Stoker!” Barton exclaimed.

“So did I specialist.” Coulson’s low scathing voice was turned on Fury, who did not so much as twitch. “You told me that Stoker had been killed when I was recovered. Was that a lie sir?”

“It was never confirmed that he was dead, but we assumed that no one could have made it out of the bunker alive, especially after we dropped a buster on it. However, there was a sighting of someone matching his description in Peru last month. Last week we confirmed that it was him and that Bates is somehow still alive. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want it to compromise the mission. I knew if I sent you then it would make him wriggle out of the hole he crawled into” Fury’s explanation did nothing to ease the anger that Phil was feeling.

“Right. So, you hide that fact that the man who held me hostage for three months and almost tortured me to death is not as dead as I was led to believe. Then lie to me and send my team and I out on an op to retrieve suspected information on his whereabouts and dealings. An op that can I say goes FUBAR and results in the death of two agents. I don’t think I have ever been as angry at you as I am right now sir. I am going to head back to my family before I say something I regret.” Coulson walks out the room with Clint following behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once out the door, the alarm to signal an incoming attack blares out and red lights flash from above. All around them personnel start running in different directions to man battle stations.

“Shit, that means he’s found us. I guess Stoker would be stupid enough to attack a SHIELD base.” Phil breathes in and out a few times to settle himself. Memories from six months ago assaulting his mind.

“Come on sir, lets gear up and cause some pain.” Clint’s voice and hand on Phil’s shoulder managed to chase off the flashback but there is still a lingering shake to his hands.

“Barton, I heard that medic earlier. No fighting unless strictly necessary. I need you to watch my family. Don’t let them come to harm.” While his voice was commanding, Phil’s eyes expressed the worry and fear of losing either Clint or any members of his family.

“But boss I’m fine! You said so yourself once you saw me up and about back at your mums place.”

“You may think your fine specialist, but one wrong hit and those stitches will tell you otherwise.” Phil’s stance showed his mind was made up and the decision was final.

“Fine. Ok. I’ll be with your family.” Clint answered with a huff as he shuffled down the corridor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fight was not what Phil would call intense. Whilst every fight has its intensity, this one just seemed to be lacklustre. Something was off and Coulson didn’t like it. Their base was surrounded by 15ft high walls and was protected by a valley running down one side, so he wasn’t sure what Stoker was trying to achieve by a full-frontal assault on the main gate. There was no way they would make it past the cannons stationed every 1 meter around the perimeter. In fact, those cannons had already taken out several hostiles thinking they could sneak round and over the top. As well as that, the multiple heavy machine gun turrets, manned by agents, where pinning in the slowly advancing force.

Suddenly a massive explosion rocked the base. Dust started raining from the ceiling as alarms screamed and sparks flew from monitors.

“What was that!” Fury demanded. “Report!”

“Detonation on the south side sir! Looks to be a small team have gained entry.” A voice called out from around them.

“Well then get some people over there! I want that hole patched and the hostiles either in cuffs or body bags!” At Fury’s order, the room jumped back into work. Voices calling for maintenance and tac teams to head south.

With all the commotion, Coulson almost didn’t see the device he’d clipped to his belt flashing red. Phil’s face drained of colour as he addressed the director. “Something’s wrong with my family. I need to go. Romanoff with me.”

Making their way down the red lit hallways, they sped up when voices echoed out in front.

“This is the last place the signal was reported sir. It goes dead from here.”

“I can see movement from inside the room. Guns up and ready. If this is the tech room then we download everything.” That voice. It plays a starring role in most of recent nightmares. Bates fucking Stoker.

Sprinting the rest of the way, Coulson tries to make it to the door of the conference room where his family are hiding before the maniac but he’s too late. They hear the screams of his family as the criminals’ commands of shut up and get down reverberate out.

Glancing at Nat, Phil signals at her to follow him. She grabs his arm before he can kick in the door and raises an eyebrow in judgment. He knows she is right. They need to form a plan before just rushing in, but Clint is in there. So is his family. Signing CLINT at her, thankful that they both learned ASL when the truth about Clint’s partial deafness came out, he sees how Nat’s face changes and sets. She nods at him and cocks her guns.

They burst into the room and take in the scene. There are more hostiles than Coulson had calculated for. The two agents managed to shoot four of the ten guys stationed around the room before being tackled and forced to fight. By then Clint had joined in, having attacked the one standing by him and broken his nose. The three agents worked together seamlessly, fighting back to back and neutralising the treats. That is until Stoker decided he’d had enough and dragged his mom up from behind the desk where she was hiding, holding a gun to her head.

“Get on the floor right now or I’ll blow a hole is this woman’s head.” Phil froze once he registered what had been said and who was being held hostage.

“I said get on the floor or I’ll shoot her!” At the second command, Coulson dropped to his knees and motioned for Clint and Nat to do the same.

He was rewarded with a blow to the back of his head and a kick to his stomach. Coughing whilst trying to suck in some oxygen, Coulson felt someone come up behind him and tie his hands together behind his back. Glancing to his side, he noticed that Nat and Clint had also been given the same courtesy. Two others had stationed themselves either side of his family and pointed their guns at them.

“Stop! It’s me Stoker. Just let them go, then you can take me and leave. I have a mind full of valuable intel. I was the one who took you down last time. SHIELD will never find you if you just take me and leave.” Phil tried to reason with the ringleader.

“Coulson! Is that really you! I almost didn’t recognise you without any blood dripping down your face. I can honestly say I am surprised your alive. Well, as for your offer, as much as I would like to take you up on that I’m afraid that I’ll have to refuse. You see, you and your organisation tried to kill me, murdering my brother in the process. Naturally, that means I have to wipe you all out.” Bates cheerily replied.

“We tried to peacefully bring you in. You are the leader of an international crime syndicate and must face justice for what you’ve done. It was not our fault that you attacked us when we came knocking. Now let’s be rational about this, just let everyone go and I’ll help you get what you want.” Phil again tried to negotiate.

“Ha! I need to face justice! If the rumours are true, then it’s you and your organisation who are the ones needing to face justice. That’s what I’m here for, to expose you for what you really are. Once your reputation is crushed then anything you have on me will become obsolete. Now as I seem to remember, you’re a pretty big hotshot around here, that means you must be one of them. Where are your files regarding project insight? Give me them and I’ll be on my way.” Stoker demanded.

“Project insight? There isn’t a project insight. I’m afraid your intel in wrong.” Coulson replied baffled. He glanced at Clint and Natasha out of the corner of his eye but saw the same confusion he felt.

“Come now Coulson. Don’t make me drag it out of you. I would hate for these lovely people to have to witness that.” Bates gestured at Phil’s family as he spoke. “Although I suppose they train you all to be unfeeling machines so that won’t bother you.” Phil felt an immense swell of relief at Stoker thinking his family were also agents.

“Sorry to say but I have never heard of a project insight. Maybe find better sources next time you storm a SHIELD base.” Coulson felt the sting of a fist across the face for his response. Gasps came from the other side of the room where his family were cowering.

“I thought you knew better than to talk like that to me. It seems you need a reminder.” Stoker cackled as he, with the help of two men, pulled him up and strapped him from a pipe in the ceiling, toes just touching the floor.

“This is familiar isn’t it. Now try not to scream too much. My ears are feeling sensitive.” Bates smiled at him in a sickly manner before blows started pummelling his stomach.

Desperate not to make a noise and further upset his family, Phil bit his cheek. He could see Clint struggling to break free and Natasha subtly attempting to cut through the ties with a blunt bit of metal in the side of the wall. He just needed to hold out long enough for them to distract the guards.

“You know, it doesn’t have to be this way. If you just told me what I want to know then this can be over.” The ringleader was right in his face and the stench of stale beer filled Phil’s nostrils. “Tell me how to get the intel on project insight. I know HYDRA have infiltrated SHIELD, just tell me where the evidence is, and I’ll let you go.”

“There is no project insight and HYDRA are not part of SHIELD. They were wiped out after WW2. Your intel is shit.” Phil responded through gritted teeth. However, his mind was racing with questions.

“Oh come on Coulson! Don’t be like that. You wouldn’t want to make things worse for yourself, now would you?” A knife came into his vision as Bates ran it down his cheek. “What did I carve into you last time. Was it my initials? Sorry for not remembering but you all tend to blur into one.” As he was talking Stoker was cutting the front of his shirt open and then hacking it off.

Once it fell to the floor, the knife started to course a route over his torso, nicking him in places and cutting through the trails of blood that had formed. Once Bates made it round to his back, he gasped in delight.

“My god. It’s a masterpiece. Look at it all.” Phil assumed he was referring to the scars trailing up and down his back from the whip that had been used the last time they saw each other. Either that or the ‘BS’ that was engraved in the middle of his shoulder blades.

He felt the knife run the lines of the scars, whilst the nerves had been slightly damaged, he could still feel the pain of Stoker making new ones. Looking to his family, he locked eyes with his mom’s tear-filled ones and sent her a grimaced smile to try and let her know everything was going to be alright. It looked like his agents were almost free, Nat had freed herself of the cable ties and was now covertly reaching to help Clint with his. However, his specialist seemed more interested in trying to kill Bates with his stare than actually help free himself.

He was startled back into reality when he felt the knife digging under the skin of his back, just below his ribs.

“Are you ready to answer my question yet Coulson? Tell me where to find the information on project insight.” Bates wiggled the knife after each sentence.

Gasping through the pain, Phil responded. “My answer hasn’t changed; your intel is still shit.”

It seemed Bates didn’t like that, he pulled the knife out and started to slash it up and down Coulson’s back. Walking round so they where face to face, Bates wiped the blood off his knife onto Phil’s cheeks, catching them with the side of the blade as he cleaned it. He pulled a cigarette out of a pocket, lit it and walked around whilst puffing.

“Coulson, surely it isn’t worth it. I understand that last time you wanted to save lives by not giving up the identities of your spies, but I don’t see anyone getting hurt from you telling me this.”

“There is no project insight.” Stoker snarled at Phil’s reply and snuffed the cigarette out on his exposed chest.

Grabbing the metal leg of a smashed-up chair, Bates swung it at his stomach, hitting him repeatedly. Just as he caught his breath, another blow would land. Coulson could see his family still cowering to the back of the room. His dad had his arms wrapped around his mom and they were crying. John also had tears in his eyes and kept glancing at the door where Izzy and the kids were still hiding. Brian and Samantha looked to be in shock. Samantha was hiding her face in Brian’s shoulder as Brian himself just stared at Phil. A few paces from them sat Natasha and Clint. It looked like Nat had just finished cutting through Clint’s bonds as he saw them both look at each other and then at him. Jerking his head to signal the go ahead for whatever plan they’d cooked up, Phil tensed himself to swing out and kick Bates in the crotch.

A scream was heard from his mother as Nat and Clint disarmed the two men standing guard each side of them and shot the remaining criminals before they even had a chance to fight back. Nat secured Stoker as Clint raced over and used the knife Bates had dropped to cut through the ties keeping him hanging. He collapsed into Barton’s side once free and was wrapped up in a hug.

“Never again. Never do that to me again. Thank god your alive.” Clint started whispering a mantra in Phil’s ear.

Reaching to cup his specialists face, Coulson placed a kiss on his lips before untangling them and addressing Bates.

“I’m afraid your little ambush has failed. You will be held by SHIELD until a trial can be set up with the United Nations.” He got a sneer in reply.

“Ok, Romanoff take him to the detention block. I need to find Fury. Lets hope that nothing bad has happened whilst we’ve been distracted.” Phil ordered as he picked up the tattered remains of his shirt and used it to wipe the blood of his face.

“Ok babe, there was so much wrong with that sentence. You are not going anywhere but medical. I’ll get Fury to come to you.” Clint intervened.

Seeing the worry in Barton’s eyes, Coulson relented. Arms came around him again as his parents cried and hugged both him and Clint. Looking to his family he told John to distract Izzy and the kids so they don’t come out and see him covered in blood. They all took him up on the offer of following him to medical.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once cleaned and patched up, Phil was whisked off to sort out logistics with Fury. The attacking force had retreated once they stopped being able to contact Stoker. That meant it was time for clean-up.

Phil’s family had been brought to the main control room as understandably they did not really want to leave his side. Finally, what felt like an eternity later, the Coulson’s, Clint and Nat were in a deserted break room, all sprawled out on the sofas with the exception of Barton cuddled into Phil’s side.

“Well it’s been an interesting few day son but when do you think we can go home?” Andrew asked as he ran a hand through his wife’s hair.

“I’ve sorted out a jet that’ll get you back later tonight. It leaves in 2 hours.” Phil told his family as they all let out sighs of relief. “Now that we know who was behind the attack and Stoker is in custody, you’ll be safe to return.”

“What about you Phil?” Came the surprising voice of Brian.

Raising his eyebrows at the concerned tone coming from his brother he responded. “Well I’ll be healed enough by next week to run an op that we have planned. But up until then its paperwork and rest.”

“Your going back out there next week?! In that condition?! I will be having words with the one who authorised this! You are in no shape to do anything at the moment. You need to rest until you fully heal.” His mother shouted at him.

“Don’t worry mom, I’m overseeing it, not joining in. It’s one of our new beta teams that needs testing. All I have to do is sit in the control room and delegate.” Clint furrowed his eyebrows at the self-depreciating comment.

“No its much more than that. He makes sure that none of the young hotshots get themselves killed and comes up with the best plans to keep everyone alive. Without him in their ear they’d probably be toast.” Barton’s defence of Phil brings a smile to Eloise’s face.

“Well as long as he doesn’t exert himself…” the matriarch trailed off. “Plus, I’m sure that you’ll be there to keep him from doing anything stupid.” She smiled at Clint.

Coulson held eye contact with Clint as he released a small smirk and replied, “damn right I will.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Six months later

Phil walked into his apartment to the sight of a table set for two and Clint cooking at the stove. Greeting his partner, walked over and wrapped his arms around Barton’s waist, kissing at his exposed neck.

“Babe, if you keep that up then dinner will be not be happening tonight.” Grunted Clint as he craned his neck out to the side to give Phil more room. “Also your parents called, they want us down there for Christmas. No excuses. I assured your mom that I’d make it happen.”

“Hmm, what do you say we put dinner on hold, and you show me how you’ll make it happen.” Phil grinned into Clint’s neck.

“Don’t need to ask me twice. Sir.” Barton replied as he turned the burners off and dragged his handler down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's it, hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and prompts!
> 
> M


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